Offbeat photos of the week (1/6/12)

VANESSA H, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By VANESSA HO, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 12:37 pm, Friday, January 6, 2012

Activists rally in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany on Jan. 5 for a law to ban the kosher and halal method of butchering animals, which calls for slitting the throat while an animal is alive and letting its blood drain.

Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Activists rally in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany on...

Activists rally in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany on Jan. 5 for a law to ban the kosher and halal method of butchering animals, which calls for slitting the throat while an animal is alive and letting its blood drain.

Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Activists rally in front of the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany on...

A street perfomer who poses as the Statue Of Liberty gets ready for work on 6th Avenue in New York on Jan. 6.

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

A street perfomer who poses as the Statue Of Liberty gets ready for...

Participants ride their sled during the traditional horn sledge race in a valley near the Bavarian village Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany on Jan. 6.

Photo: CHRISTOF STACHE, AFP/Getty Images

Participants ride their sled during the traditional horn sledge...

Women dress as the witch "Befana" while a hundred others carry a long stocking full of presents during the annual Befana procession in Viterbo, Italy on Jan. 5. The festival of Befana, a witch bringing presents and sweets to well-behaved kids, is celebrated in Italy on the Christian festival of Epiphany.

Photo: TIZIANA FABI, AFP/Getty Images

Women dress as the witch "Befana" while a hundred others carry a...

A woman dresses as the witch "Befana," while hundreds others carry a long stocking full of presents during the annual Befana procession in Viterbo, Italy on Jan. 5. The festival of Befana, a witch bringing presents and sweets to well-behaved kids, is celebrated in Italy on the Christian festival of Epiphany.

An artist from Cirque Du Soleil: Totem performs at Royal Albert Hall on Jan. 4, 2012 in London, England.

Photo: Danny Martindale, Getty Images

An artist from Cirque Du Soleil: Totem performs at Royal Albert...

A lifeguard swimmer lies in makeshift hot tub during a winter swim event on Jan. 1 at the Edersee lake near Hemfurth, Germany. About 60 swimmers took to the lake, which was 5 degrees Celsius.

Photo: UWE ZUCCHI, AFP/Getty Images

A lifeguard swimmer lies in makeshift hot tub during a winter swim...

Spectators watch New Year's swimmers getting ready to dunk themselves in Edersee lake near Hemfurth, Germany on Jan. 1. About 60 swimmers took to the lake, which was 5 degrees Celsius.

Photo: UWE ZUCCHI, AFP/Getty Images

Spectators watch New Year's swimmers getting ready to dunk...

Zookeeper Adrian Walls poses with penguins at the London Zoo on Jan. 4.

Photo: Dan Kitwood, Getty Images

Zookeeper Adrian Walls poses with penguins at the London Zoo on...

"Jungle nymph" stick insects rest on a zookeeper's hand during a portrait at the London Zoo on Jan. 4.

Photo: Dan Kitwood, Getty Images

"Jungle nymph" stick insects rest on a zookeeper's hand...

Rob Maitland of Australia collects a ball from the ocean during a warm-up for the "Water Polo by the Sea" match between Australia and the United States at Bondi Icebergs on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 4.

Photo: Mark Kolbe, Getty Images

Rob Maitland of Australia collects a ball from the ocean during a...

Hundreds of swimmers race into the Cap-Coz beach in Fouesnant, France on Dec. 31 for a traditional Yuletide sea bath.

Photo: FRED TANNEAU, AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of swimmers race into the Cap-Coz beach in Fouesnant,...

Hundreds of swimmers dash into the Cap-Coz beach in Fouesnant, France on Dec. 31 for a traditional Yuletide sea bath.

Photo: FRED TANNEAU, AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of swimmers dash into the Cap-Coz beach in Fouesnant,...

Hundreds of swimmers do a conga line in the Cap-Coz beach in Fouesnant, France on Dec. 31 for a traditional Yuletide sea bath.

Photo: FRED TANNEAU, AFP/Getty Images

Hundreds of swimmers do a conga line in the Cap-Coz beach in...

Divers light torches as they prepare for a traditional New Year's swim in Lake Constance in Germany on Dec. 28. Participants covered a distance of about 1.5 kilometers in the 5 degrees Celsius water.

Photo: PATRICK SEEGER, AFP/Getty Images

Divers light torches as they prepare for a traditional New Year's...

Christmas decorations brighten up an "Occupy" camp in Berlin on Jan. 6. The Berlin camp, next to a train station, has been ordered to leave.